Hair-Trigger Avalanche

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Someone in the mountains triggers an avalanche by shouting or making another loud noise (shooting a gun, detonating an explosion, sneezing), especially if other characters have warned him about this before.

One issue of Thorgal starts with someone blowing a horn in the mountains, with the protagonist commenting on how irresponsible it is. The whole issue is a Timey-Wimey Ball and culminates with a Girl of the Week taking The Slow Path to cause the avalanche on purpose, killing the time traveler and saving Thorgal's life but putting him out of the loop in the process.

In the first Kaamelott comic book, L'Armée du Nécromant, the knights are caught in an avalanche while fighting a horde of zombies in the mountains. At first, they think it was from Merlin casting a spell, but in fact, it was because Karadoc and Perceval were yelling while charging into the fray.

Hunter's Hellcats: In Our Fighting Forces #117, the Hellcats trigger an avalanche by firing their machine guns into a ledge of snow above a group of Nazi Super Soldiers.

Comic Strips

The Far Side: A cartoon has a skier come across a guy with a big drum and one with a trumpet in a narrow crevice.

Implied in a Dilbert strip where the Pointy-Haired Boss is on vacation. Wally calls the ski resort the Boss is visiting and asks if there are frequent avalanches. When he gets the affirmative, he asks the guy on the other end of the phone to tell the boss he said (in an angry tone) "HI!!!"

Eastern Animation

Played with in the winter episode of Nu, Pogodi!. After Wolf is foiled by Hare once again, he bellows, "HAAAAAAAAAAREE!!!" at the top of his lungs. Echoes rock the mountaintops... then about a handful of snow falls onto Wolf's head. Intimidated, he says it again in a normal tone. There's an ominous rumble, and he's covered by some more snow. He shrugs it off and whispers, "Hare!". Naturally, this triggers a full-scale avalanche.

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Films — Animation

In The Simpsons Movie, when the family moves to Alaska, Bart amuses himself by clapping while Homer is outside to trigger avalanches. Homer thinks he's clapping for Alaska and asks Lisa to join in. He is then swept away by the ensuing avalanche.

On Balto, the sled dogs have to escape an avalanche triggered by one of the dogs sneezing.

Mulan: Shooting a rocket into a snow-filled cliffside is how Mulan defeats the rampaging Hun horde.

In The Tigger Movie, Tigger ends up triggering an avalanche while shouting at his friends that he needs to find his family.

Piglet: Is that a rumbly in your tumbly, Pooh?

Pooh: I don't think so, Piglet.

Brother Bear 2: Koda triggers one while shouting at Nita to leave him alone.

Films — Live-Action

Careful (1992): One of Guy Maddin's first feature films is about a small mountain town where every citizen must move and speak very quietly to avoid this. So naturally, Maddin produced it as a silent film.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: After kidnapping the women, the men start an avalanche so they can't be pursued by the townspeople by firing pistols into the air repeatedly while the women all scream at the top of their lungs.

xXx: Xander intentionally causes an avalanche with a grenade and then snowboards his way down the mountain in front of it.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Bond and Traci are skiing away from SPECTRE mooks when Blofeld detonates a flare above some hanging rocks and ice, triggering an avalanche.

Everest (2015): As the climbers are trying to get across a large ice crevasse, a mass of snow suddenly comes down a cliff without warning, nearly knocking one of them in.

Mentioned in Frankenstein. As Victor Frankenstein climbs a mountain, he remarks that even a loud voice would be able to trigger an avalanche.

Happens in Jean Kirby's novel Olympic Duty in the Nurses Three series. While a small, strategic avalanche is being planned to alleviate a more dangerous one, a photographer who's prevented from going closer shouts in anger, thus triggering a large, fatal (although not to him) avalanche.

Live-Action TV

The I Love Lucy episode "Lucy in the Swiss Alps" has the main cast in a cabin with a big cliff of snow over it, trying not to make any noise that would trigger an avalanche. When Lucy slams the door, it causes an avalanche.

The Benny Hill Show: In a sketch, Benny causes an avalanche by sneezing after taking some snuff.

In the next-to-last episode of Hogan's Heroes, the boys are charged with blocking a mountain pass. Denied the chance to mine the pass itself, they resort to attempting one of these. Their chosen method is a jam session with Carter on the horn and Hogan on the drums. The bad news: It fails. The good news: Col. Klink produces a timely Sneeze of Doom.

"Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues": In 1950, Indy (Harrison Ford) and his friend are pursued and take refuge from a snowstorm in a cabin. After the bad guys catch on them and steal the artifact of the day, Indiana Jones seems to give up and just play on a soprano sax... until he blows a long note, making the snow on top of the cabin and the nearby trees fall down and bury the villains.

SpongeBob: I think we should keep our voices down in case of avalanche! Patrick: What? SpongeBob: I said we should keep our voices DOWN in case of avalanche! Patrick: What should we keep down? SpongeBob: (shouting) OUR VOICES! (Squidward kicks the box) (avalanche sounds plus SpongeBob and Patrick screaming in terror emit from their cardboard box until the avalanche fades away, leaving SpongeBob and Patrick sobbing from the pain) Squidward: (horrified, touches the box very gingerly) Sponge...Bob? (sounds from a second avalanche plus SpongeBob and Patrick screaming in terror emit from their cardboard box)

American Dad! episode "A Smith in the Hand" does it twice when Stan screams from masturbating.

What's New, Scooby-Doo?: In one episode, Velma gets a nasty cold. As the villain controlling the monster robot is getting away, Scooby aims Velma so her sneeze is toward the mountains, causing an avalanche and catching the bad guy.

Episode "Mountain of Madness": The first avalanche is caused by Homer & Mr. Burns clinking two glasses together in a toast. The second is caused by their boisterous "Huzzah!" after digging themselves out of the first. Then,

In the Total Drama World Tour episode "Slap Slap Revolution", the teams have to sing a song in an avalanche area in Austria. It's very quiet, until Tyler shouts out in happiness because Lindsay finally recognizes him after six episodes.

In the short "The Iceman Ducketh", Bugs Bunny warns Daffy Duck not to talk too loud or it might start an avalanche. Daffy whispers whether it's okay to speak now, but Bugs can't understand him, so Daffy shouts the question and is buried by falling snow.

This happens in one of the Heyyy, It's the King! shorts on CB Bears. The avalanche is caused by the sound of the hippo character eating potato chips.

Occurs in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Dragonshy". While climbing a (snowless) mountain, Twilight Sparkle warns the others that they're entering an avalanche zone, and that the smallest noise could create a rock slide. Fluttershy, already on pins-and-needles, instantly panics and shouts "Avala—!" when she feels something touch her backside. She's immediately hushed as they wait for the echoes to stop. Then they sigh with relief. This triggers the rock slide.

In a Jimmy Neutron TV movie, Jimmy and his buddies are spies, and one scene has them climbing Mount Everest. The following dialogue ensues:

Carl: (singing) We're spies! And it's really cold! I wish I had some hot chocolate! Jimmy: Quiet, Carl! You could start an avalanche! Sheen: (at the top of his lungs) AVALANCHE?! (rumbling is heard) Jimmy: ...Like that.

In the Rocko's Modern Life episode "Cabin Fever", Ed Bighead screams his frustration at having to share a mountain cabin with Rocko and Heffer for the weekend, causing the snowy slope nearby to bury the cabin and trap the group inside.

Ed: How can I rest when I have to spend my weekend with those two PINHEADS!?

Brainy Smurf causes one in the beginning of The Smurfs episode "The Smurfs That Time Forgot".

All Hail King Julien has Julien try to start a rockslide with a boom box, but when cranking the audio causes it to break, a blood-curdling scream does the trick instead.

In the Rugrats episode "The Blizzard," when the babies imagine themselves traveling to the North Pole, an avalanche is triggered at one point by a hiccup from Phil.

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